


A Little Magic

by Tinywriterfairy



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ambiguous Relationships, First Aid, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Prequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:03:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23915761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinywriterfairy/pseuds/Tinywriterfairy
Summary: Jaemin gets hurt. Jeno finds him. Renjun helps put him back together.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 146
Collections: nono birthday bash





	A Little Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bunnyctzen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnyctzen/gifts).



> For Lee, my love!! I’m so sorry it took me so long to write this ;-; I hope it’s worth the wait. This is more of a prequel than the full story I envisioned, but I think it covers the prompt pretty well and I promise more soon!! Happy Jeno Day (belatedly)!  
> Also: I know absolutely nothing about medicine, so my sincerest apologies for what may turn out to be terrible medical practices.

Jaemin slid along, just above the ocean floor. The kaleidoscope of the coral reef crept into the shallower water near some large island, making a lovely labyrinth for him to play in. He loved relaxing in the warmer waters here. A small, green parrotfish swam past him, tiny fins fluttering. Jaemin giggled, sending bubbles floating in the fish’s wake. He flexed his tail and twisted to prepare for the sharp curve of the island just ahead.

The harsh dip in temperature should have warned him. As it was, Jaemin didn’t dive in time to miss the churning fan blades striking right for his dorsal fin. The blade dug in, slicing past his scales into muscle. He shrieked bubbles and dove.

Where was he again? He fluttered his tail, aiming for what he remembered of the shoreline. He could taste his own blood in the water. No fish swam around him now. But if a shark happened on the scent, he was screwed. He’d never seen a shark around this island, but his blood carried the strongest scent for them. He wouldn’t stand a chance.

Jaemin limped along close to the ocean floor as the water grew shallower. Finally, he spotted a small opening in the shoreline. A cove opened before him, the water deep enough to hold him, but still small enough to hide him from other predators. Great. He could hide there and find his family as soon as he was rested. Jaemin let the current carry him to the mouth of the cove and used the rest of his energy to push himself inside. The soft sand lining the bottom wouldn’t help the wound he couldn’t bear to look at yet. Jaemin allowed himself to float face down until he hit the edge of the water. It felt weird, breathing air, but he needed the rest. He could worry about everything later. Jaemin settled against the shore and let his eyes drift shut.

***

Jeno trotted along toward his favorite cove, the one legends said was haunted. Summer made their little island unbearably hot except for some of the caves and the ocean. Jeno cut through the woods. He and Renjun were the only people who really wanted to use the place, and Renjun was stuck working on a paper, so he would have the place all to himself. He had to dodge a falling branch before he made it to the clearing in front of the stone dome that hid their cave. He left his shoes and bag against the outer wall.

He ducked through the low opening in the cave wall and froze, toes digging into the soft sand to keep from falling over. Someone lay face down at the shoreline, skin pallid, head turned away from Jeno. Soaked hair that had to be dyed blue stuck out from their head at odd angles. Something didn’t look quite right, but he couldn’t pinpoint it.

Jeno steeled himself to move closer. The stranger clearly wasn’t awake, head above board shoulders pressed into the sand in a way that couldn’t be comfortable. Maybe that was what didn’t look right. Why would anyone take a nap here unless something was wrong? He circled around to get a look at their face. Jeno frowned. What was this?

Maybe the blue hair wasn’t a dye job. Patches of darker blue brushed the edge of the stranger’s eye sockets—were those scales?—spreading out to their temples, their hairline. The curve of one ear, just barely visible behind the blue hair, looked odd, too. Their mouth was blue, not in the way that cold or drowning people had when their lips leeched of color, but a vibrant sapphire. It stood out against the rest of their skin in a way that couldn’t be healthy. Were they hurt? What were they?

Jeno turned to look for what was wrong. More of those blue patches dotted the stranger’s torso, which was otherwise unmarked and covered in lean muscle. Who was this? Jeno would have noticed someone this good-looking around the island. Maybe the injury was lower? He turned toward the water. Jeno fell out of his crouch. He had to scramble back not to hit the unconscious—merman? Was he seeing this right?

The water that split off from the ocean in this cove made small, gentle waves as it reached the sand. The waves came up to the stranger’s waist when they lapped at the shore, but they didn’t actually cover the rest of his distinctly not-human body. A tail, scaled in shades of that vibrant blue, stretched into the water below his line of sight. The merman shifted. Jeno clapped a hand over his mouth. Okay. Okay, merpeople existed. This one appeared to be passed out and was probably hurt. He could freak out later. Jeno leaned over. Was it their tail that was injured?

The waves receded a little, giving Jeno a better look at the curve of the merperson’s tail. A jagged gash cut into the ridge of the fin that rose from the smooth scales on the back of his tail. It wasn’t bleeding much, for how big a cut it seemed to be. How long had he been here?

Jeno steeled himself again and pushed himself upright. He didn’t know anything about fish, or merpeople, or whatever, but he couldn’t just leave someone bleeding, could he? Especially not with that innocent face. Surely something in his first aid kit at home could help. He dashed from the cove on frantic feet.

***

Renjun perked up from his half-nap when Jeno ran down the street to his house. Jeno rarely moved so quickly unless he had to. Renjun set aside the textbook he had been failing to read as Jeno dashed into his house across the street. He appeared again barely a minute after, holding a box. What was going on?

Renjun tried calling, but Jeno’s phone rang through. A warm summer breeze drifted in through the open window. Renjun shivered anyway. That box had looked an awful lot like a first aid kit. Was someone hurt? Renjun pursed his lips. Jeno didn’t have any first aid training. He let his fingers drum on the windowsill for a few rounds, but really, it wasn’t even a question.

Jeno was barely turning the corner when Renjun closed his front door behind him. He scurried down the street, but Jeno remained half a block ahead no matter how fast he tried to run, with his stupid longer legs. He tailed Jeno around a few more corners until they reached the edge of the forest. Jeno took off toward the coast.

He paused just inside the forest to catch his breath and almost lost Jeno to the trees. Renjun broke into a run to keep him in sight. It took him much too long to figure out where they were going, though he didn’t have Jeno’s vantage point. Had someone wandered into their cove and gotten hurt? Renjun cut away at a fork in the path. Jeno didn’t seem to remember the shortcut through the thicker bush off the main path. He dashed through the narrow, packed dirt path, hopefully gaining ground on Jeno. Who could possibly have gotten hurt that would send Jeno running all the way to his house for first aid and not calling an ambulance? Especially without any training. Renjun pushed for more speed.

He ducked out of the little path where it passed the cavern. Jeno almost ran into him headfirst. He stumbled back. “What—”

“I saw you leave your house.” Renjun grabbed Jeno’s shoulder to steady himself as he caught his breath. “With a first aid kit you barely know how to use. Wanted to help. But you run too fast.”

“Oh.” Jeno shifted. He glanced at the cave mouth. “Sorry?”

“Don’t apologize, dumbass, just show me where we’re taking this thing.” Renjun waved him on. “Who’s hurt, anyway?”

“Thanks, Renjun.” Jeno nudged him with a shoulder before moving toward the cave. “And, uh … about that.” He frowned.

Renjun followed Jeno into the cove. “Are you okay? If it’s a stranger, you can just say that.”

“It is—They are, but.” Jeno bit his lip. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“Did I think you were crazy when you brought home a bobcat and wanted to hide it in my backyard?” Jeno shook his head. “Then I won’t think you’re crazy about this.”

“Right. Okay.” Jeno moved aside so Renjun could see into the cavern. He toed off his shoes so he wouldn’t get them sandy and stepped inside. A jut of rock blocked most of the water off at first, but he could see the torso of what looked like an unconscious person pretty clearly. “I think this is a merperson.”

“A what?”

Jeno dragged him further into the cove, toward the water. Renjun let Jeno drag him around to the person’s other side. He cocked his head. “That doesn’t look painted on.” Patches of blue decorated an admittedly beautiful face and deep blue lips. He would have said it was makeup, but what lipstick would survive a swim in the ocean?

“It’s not.” Jeno pointed toward the water. “Look.”

Renjun looked. And had to sit on the sand, hard. Broad shoulders tapered into a waist that turned into scales just a little past the place where waves hit the shore. “And that doesn’t look manufactured.”

“It’s not.” Jeno edged closer to the merperson and pointed again. “They’re hurt. Look.”

Renjun scooted closer until the warm water brushed over his toes. Jeno was right. A nasty gash ran through the large fin that rose from the middle of the tail, showing muscle rather than human skin underneath.

“Do you know what this means?” he whispered in a daze. “I was right, there are other things out there.” The legends about this cove had never mentioned merpeople, only magic, but he’d never had any proof before.

“This doesn’t mean aliens exist.”

Renjun smacked Jeno’s knee with the back of his hand. “I know that. And I know it’s not important right now. Help me pull them out of the water so I can get a good look at that cut.”

Jeno set the kit off to the side. They each took an arm and pulled, trying to be gentle. Their skin felt just like a human who had been swimming, only colder. Renjun wasn’t sure if that was nature or the injury. They dragged together until only the lower portion of the tail—what on a human would be the lower calves, ankles, and feet—rested in the water.

Their arm twitched in Renjun’s hands. Renjun lowered it to the ground. He motioned to Jeno, who also let go. The merperson fidgeted a bit more. Their eyes opened. Renjun gasped.

Piercing silver stared at him, with oddly slit black pupils. The merperson gasped, too, jerking back until they hit Jeno. They jerked around. Renjun and Jeno backed away without needing to talk about it. The merperson glanced around until they found the water. They _shoved_ against the sand, shooting right back into the water faster than Renjun had thought anyone could move.

Renjun held out his hands, palms facing out. “Please wait!”

“We don’t want to hurt you.” Jeno presented the kit. “We want to help. I’m Jeno, what’s your name?”

The merperson paused, gaze flicking between the box and Jeno’s face. Renjun still hadn’t quite caught his breath from the first time their silver eyes looked his way. They cocked their head, shifting wet hair off what must be an ear. The basic structure of a human ear appeared to be there, almost the same shade as most of their skin in the inner ridges. As the skin tinted the same blue as their hair, it twisted into a kind of fin that swept up the sides of their head like pieces of a crown. He wanted to lean closer, but Jeno’s words hadn’t erased the fear in that piercing gaze, only made it more confused.

“Jeno, I don’t think they understand us. Do you?” The merperson frowned. Renjun pointed at himself. “I’m Renjun.” He pointed to Jeno. “Jeno.” Slowly, he held a palm toward the water.

The merperson lifted a hand, lined with lighter blue webbing and tipped with hard claws, to point to Jeno. “Je-no?”

Jeno nodded. “That’s me, I’m Jeno.”

They pointed to Renjun next. “Ren-jun?”

Renjun nodded. The pronunciation wasn’t quite right, but it was far closer on a first try than most of the locals had ever gotten. “Renjun.” He held out a hand again. “Who are you?”

The hand pointed back to the merperson’s own face. “Jaemin.”

“You’re Jaemin?” Jeno repeated. Jaemin nodded. Jeno opened the box to take out a roll of bandages. He showed them to Jaemin. “You’re hurt.” He mimed something hitting his leg and pointed at what they could still see of Jaemin’s tail above the shallow water. Jaemin glanced back at his tail. Jeno held up the bandages. “We want to help.” He wrapped some of the bandage around his leg.

Jaemin cocked his head. He pointed to the bandages and made a noise that had Renjun covering his ears. Jaemin sunk into the water further.

Renjun waved his hands. “It’s okay, it’s okay, you just surprised me.” It wasn’t the worst sound he’d ever heard, just high-pitched.

It looked like Jaemin was pouting. He pointed to the bandages again, then to his tail.

Jeno nodded vigorously. “Yes, we want to help with your tail.”

Renjun frowned. He had let the many shocks of the last few minutes get to him, but … “Jen, are you sure regular bandages are going to help when he’s in the water all the time? We’re always told not to get bandages wet.” He was pretty sure that was more of a concern for stitches than the actual bandage, but he sure as hell wasn’t about to try stitching up a merman’s tail. “And our medicine, would it even work?”

Jeno frowned, too. “I don’t know. I was just thinking that we shouldn’t call an ambulance?”

Renjun nodded. He turned to Jaemin, who was watching them talk with wide eyes. At least he didn’t look so scared anymore. “Ahh, I don’t know how to explain this so you’ll understand it?” He held out a hand to Jeno. “Cut me a bit of the bandage?”

Jeno passed him a short strip off the roll. “Thank you.” Renjun scooted across the sand, slowly enough that Jaemin could choose what to do about it. Jaemin didn’t move. Renjun settled at the edge of the water, toes barely brushing the waves. He dipped the bandage into the water under Jaemin’s watchful gaze. When it felt soaked through, he offered it to Jaemin.

Jaemin’s fingers barely brushed his as he took the bandage. Renjun shivered. Jaemin stroked the bandage with curious fingers before setting it against part of his tail. He wrinkled his nose. Behind Renjun, Jeno smothered a laugh. “You don’t like that?”

Jaemin flicked the bandage away.

“I guess that’s a no.” Renjun pointed at Jaemin’s tail. “What do we do to help?”

Jaemin cocked his head.

“That wasn’t the most helpful thing to try, was it?”

Jeno scooted over, stopping next to Renjun. He picked up the bandage and showed it to Jaemin again. Jaemin pushed it away.

“I know, I know.” Jeno pointed at the bandage, then at himself a couple of times. Jaemin watched closely. Jeno pointed at Jaemin with his questioning face. Renjun pushed away any awareness of how cute that face was. This wasn’t the time.

Jaemin glanced between Jeno and the bandage a few more times before the proverbial lightbulb went off. He made some gestures with his hands that Renjun couldn’t quite follow. Jeno cocked his head, too. Jaemin frowned. He looked around the cove like he was seeing it for the first time—which, come to think of it, maybe he was; had he spent much time in here at all before he fell asleep or passed out?

Renjun hadn’t spent too much time under the water here, but he had spent a lot of time wandering along the shelves of rock lining the water on either side. There wasn’t enough give on any of it for plants to grow, and no one left anything in here if they could help it.

Jaemin stopped and pointed to a corner of the pool. Renjun squinted. “Is that moss?”

“Yeah.” Jeno got up. “Is that what you want?” he glanced at Jaemin, who just blinked at him and pointed again. “Right.” He trotted over and pulled at the patch of moss until his hands were full.

Renjun stood. “Where should we—can you go over there?” He pointed to the rock jutting out from the side of the cove. Jaemin glanced over. Renjun mimed sitting on something. Jaemin’s eyes lit up. He swam over to the side Renjun had indicated. Renjun grabbed the first aid kit and bandages followed. Jaemin hauled himself up onto the rock, keeping the injured side of his tail up. His tail gleamed, shedding water as he settled himself on the rock. Jeno joined them while Renjun was still working himself up to touching Jaemin again. “Thank you for getting those.”

“Of course. What do I do with them?”

“Put them on the wound and then I want to try securing it with the bandage roll, even if they’re going to get wet.” Renjun pressed himself into the wall so Jeno could get by him. Even then, the shelf wasn’t wide enough for him to pass comfortably. His side brushed against Renjun’s front, leaving an imprint of warmth as he slid over to the little space left at Jaemin’s side. Jaemin watched over his shoulder as Jeno placed the moss as carefully as he could.

Renjun watched Jaemin for a reaction, but either he had a high pain threshold or it didn’t hurt too much anymore. “Pack it down tight, okay?” He got out the bandages.

Wrapping Jaemin’s tail was one of the weirdest things Renjun had ever done. He seemed to catch on to what they were trying to do pretty quickly and adjusted himself to help, going through what resembled a push up routine to let them roll the bandages around the front of his tail. Renjun hovered over the narrower part of the tail and hoped Jaemin didn’t flip out and knock him into the water as they traded off holding the roll. Finally, they covered the whole wound. Renjun tied the bandage tightly and tucked the ends away the way he had been taught. He smiled at Jaemin (he hoped reassuringly) when their gazes met over Jaemin’s shoulder. “It’s okay now.” He patted the bandage gently. “Leave this until it feels better, okay?”

Jaemin eyed him. Renjun was pretty sure that they didn’t share any language except their names, but maybe Jaemin saw something in his face. He nodded.

“Thank you.” Renjun stepped back, out of the way of Jaemin’s tail. Jeno pressed against the wall. Jaemin glanced at his tail, then the two of them. He slid carefully off the rock into the water. Jaemin flicked his tail and was halfway across the pool. He grinned up at them with sharp teeth, as bright as his gaze. Renjun’s stomach swooped a little. What a thing, to be smiled at by a merman. That had to be it.

“Do you think he’s going to leave?” Jeno leaned on Renjun’s shoulder. No one seemed to want to move.

“I don’t know.” Jaemin flitted gently around the pool. He didn’t seem interested in leaving, but he also kept checking his tail, disappearing under the water only to surface meters away. “We’ve done what we can.” Was it weird to hope Jaemin stayed? They picked a path back to the shore. Jeno put what was left of the bandage roll back in the first aid kit. Renjun sat at the edge of the water again. Water washed over his feet. The hems of his jeans were getting soggy, but the water felt good. What was it like, to glide through the sea like Jaemin could?

Jeno sat nearby, out of reach of the water. They drifted like that for a while, until Jaemin appeared out of the water like an illusion. He rose up right between Renjun and Jeno on both arms, tail rising behind him. From this close with less shock and worry, Renjun could notice the silvery markings running down from Jaemin’s shoulders. He couldn’t be real, except that Renjun couldn’t possibly have come up with this scenario. Jeno looked positively enchanted.

Jaemin glanced between them. Renjun couldn’t have said who he was looking at when Jaemin said, “thank you.”

He cocked his head again when neither of them moved and made a questioning little noise.

“Oh, my God, I think he’s learning from listening to us.” Jeno leaned forward. “Do you know what that means?”

Jaemin blinked at him. His tail waved gently; Jaemin pointed to it. “Thank you.”

“Yes.” Renjun fought down a shiver when Jaemin turned back. He nodded. “That’s what we say, thank you.”

Jaemin grinned. “Renjun.”

“That’s me.”

“Thank you.”

Jeno let out a strangled noise. Jaemin looked at him. “Jeno.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Renjun barely heard what Jeno said after that. He registered sound, but all he really held onto was the way Jaemin reached to touch each of their cheeks, fingers gentle and claws held away, before sliding back into the water. He glided to a notch in the wall and appeared to settle down for a nap. Renjun turned to Jeno. Jeno looked starstruck. “I think he’s gonna stay.”

Something loosened in his chest. “I think so, too.” Maybe this cove was a little magic after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: lost merperson ends up washed ashore and injured, and boy b tries to gently nurse him back to health even though communication is difficult (bonus points if the merperson is also kinda scary looking but an alluring scary owo.. you don’t have to do this though)
> 
> I don't think I got the alluring scary part but I hope you enjoyed it owo. You mentioned norenmin as a preferred ship and it gave me Ideas. I really thought about Jeno merman because Jeno Day, but Jaemin blue hair and jeeth got me ;-; I hope everyone enjoyed good boys Jeno and Renjun trying to help their merman instead. Also, I have no idea how this ended up with such a long Renjun scene, but I hope you enjoyed his perspective of Jeno and Jaemin.
> 
> ... if you saw the typo, shhhhh


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